It’s about honoring Auren. It’s about respecting whatshe’dwant.
And despite what Annwyn has done, I saw it with my own eyes in Lydia. The way people looked at her with reverence and loyalty. The way she moved through the streets, with a surety of herself.
Annwyn is Auren’s home, and I cannot take her from it.
When I look up again with eyes that drip, my mother nods and drops her hands. I get to my feet, clutching Auren with a trembling hold.
I swallow hard, though this lump in my throat will never leave.
“She’ll stay here,” I tell Wick quietly, the promise rasping out.
I see the relief as it drains out the stiffness of his posture. “Thank you.”
The breath I heave in is hard-won, like hands grappling a rope to pull a ship through a storm. “But there are people who care about her in Orea too. People who need to see her. To say…” I have to force the last word out. “Goodbye.”
Wick nods. “I—”
A loud noise abruptly tears through the air, making us startle.
“What was that?” Wick says.
We both take one look at each other and then race up the slope. When we reach the top, I’m able to look out toward Annwyn’s edge. To where the deadlands drop off and the world ends in nothing but haze and void.
There, the small bridge is tucked in the fog.
But…the bridge is flooded with soldiers clad in red armor. More fae invading into Orea. Except, no, they’re not invading, they’re—
“They’re running away from the bridge…” Wick says, and then his eyes widen. “Gore.” He suddenly whirls around to the group at the bottom of the slope. “Run!”
Our group doesn’t hesitate to listen to his command. They instantly scatter, including my mother.
“Those aren’t Stone Swords,” Wick explains as we watch everyone’s hurried steps kick up dust. Then our attention turns back to the soldiers. “We need to run.”
“But why aretheyrunning?” I ask.
Wick doesn’t get to answer.
That crack of noise we first heard isnothingcompared to this. Sound splits, making us stagger, and I watch as the fog around the bridge seems to collide, aftershocks folding the air.
Then, in the next instant, the bridge erupts. With a flash of power and bright blue light, it blasts out of existence.
Gone. Just…fuckinggone.
The way back to Orea, destroyed.
My legs nearly give out from the shock of it as I stare, and beside me, Wick gapes. But a moment later, the land right next to the bridge starts to collapse and give way. The land falling and sucking the fleeing soldiers down with it.
Fear stabs through my chest as Wick and I both realize what’s happening at the same moment.
We turn and run.
The land crumbles, falling away in huge chunks, shaking the entire earth while it roars like thunder. “Go, go!” I shout at Wick, and his arms pump, sprinting harder and gaining speed.
Wick looks over his shoulder, sees me falling behind, and his brown eyes widen. “Faster!”
I can feel the earth quake. Hear it roaring down at me as it falls away. But I clutch Auren to me and run as fast as I fucking can.
But I’m not fast enough.
